What does it really mean to trust God fully, even when your world falls apart? When pastor and speaker Megan Fate Marshman suddenly lost her husband, Randy, she found herself in the midst of unimaginable grief. As a young widow and single mom, Megan faced a choice: strive for control or surrender to a God who never leaves. In this episode of The Unfolding, Megan shares how heartbreak led her to a slower, more peaceful life rooted in trust, not fear. Her story is a reminder that even in the fire,...
Jun 27, 2025•39 min
“What does it look like for a coral biologist to minister to creation?” For Rachel Jordan, that question became painfully real when the reefs she studied began to vanish. As she searched for answers in both science and Scripture, Rachel began to see a bigger redemption story and a calling to bring restoration to God’s underwater creation. If you’re interested in Rachel’s book, you can discover more here: If the Ocean Has a Soul A Marine Biologist's Pursuit of Truth through Deep Waters of Faith a...
Jun 24, 2025•6 min
Courtney Smallbone comes from a long line of Jesus-followers—but as a teenager, she wasn’t convinced. That changed after a powerful encounter that shifted her from skeptic to wholehearted believer. When she witnessed God move in a miraculous way, it marked her for life and reshaped her expectations of what God could do. That moment would become the foundation of her faith when she later faced a situation that looked impossible. Courtney is married to Luke, one half of the Grammy-winning duo For ...
Jun 20, 2025•44 min
“Sometimes we miss Him in our every day.” — Suzanne Happs We often look for God on the mountaintop or in the valley. But what about the middle? The everyday spaces of life where nothing feels especially dramatic or divine. In this short story, Suzanne Happs reflects on raspberries, unexpected timing, and the sacredness of the ordinary. She reminds us that even in quiet seasons, God is present and faithful. To hear more of Suzanne’s story, including how her family faced a medical crisis with no h...
Jun 17, 2025•12 min
Caleb, Jordan, and Josh Ward, the brothers who make up Consumed By Fire, first played music together in 2006. They hit the road with a heart to serve and tell people about the hope of Jesus through music. For years they played and traveled, mostly for small crowds and small pay. They were living and working by faith- A way of life they had watched their parents model in a powerful way. But it’s tough to live a life of ministry on the road. They were burning out. Despite a clear call from God, af...
Jun 13, 2025•43 min
Travis West knows what it feels like to run on empty. Early in his marriage he was working multiple jobs and caring for his wife Mariah through a long illness. A study trip to Jerusalem changed everything. When the city slowed to a standstill on Friday nights, Travis experienced Sabbath rest for the first time. In this episode he explains how that weekly pause brought new life to his family and why he believes Sabbath is a practical gift for anyone today. Book: The Sabbath Way: Making Room in Yo...
Jun 10, 2025•10 min
Growing up on the south side of St. Petersburg, Florida, Kevin Burgess faced depression and a deep sense of hopelessness. After his parents’ divorce, he was uprooted from a safe environment and placed in a neighborhood where drugs and violence dominated daily life. Forgotten by society, he doubted he would live to see 30—until one day, someone handed him a Christian hip hop CD that changed everything. Today, Kevin Burgess—better known as KB—is a Christian hip hop artist, music executive, author ...
Jun 06, 2025•45 min
“Your story saved my life…” begins letter after letter from readers who found courage in Bryan’s dark-to-light plotlines. One teen even pausing on the brink of self-harm to ask, “What would those characters do?” Bryan’s brand-new release, The Sacred Scales launches today, but today we step into the unfolding pages of his own journey: quitting a safe tech career, trusting God for a miracle fifty dollars, and watching fiction ignite faith in kids and families worldwide. **Content note: Because Bry...
Jun 03, 2025•10 min
Dove Award-winning artist Ryan Stevenson is known for songs like Eye of the Storm and No Matter What—but behind the music is a story of identity, struggle, and relentless faith. For much of his early life, Ryan felt overlooked and forgotten. Poverty, bullying, and disappointment told him he wasn’t enough. But through it all, there was a still, small voice—the voice of God—whispering that he was loved, chosen, and made for more. In this episode of The Unfolding, Ryan talks about the years he spen...
May 30, 2025•49 min
“Listen a bit.” A simple line spoken to a young Trevor Hudson during a leadership exercise became the compass for his life’s work. In this Unfolding Short Story, the South-African pastor and author of In Search of God’s Will: Discerning a Life of Faithfulness and Purpose shows how a modest talent, handed back to God, can grow into decades of counseling, retreats, and Spirit-led guidance. Trevor invites us to slow down and discover what God can do with the small gifts in our own hands....
May 27, 2025•10 min
For nearly 40 years, Chris Hauser has been a trusted force behind the scenes in Contemporary Christian Music—promoting the work of artists like Amy Grant, Chris Tomlin, Lauren Daigle, and Russ Taff. Known for his humility, authenticity, and deep love for the Gospel, Chris has built a reputation not on self-promotion, but on service. But behind that professional success was a personal story marked by struggle. For years, Chris admits he was a fast talker—someone who could charm his way out of tou...
May 23, 2025•53 min
“Everywhere somebody was sick, Jesus was right there.” Those words became Keith’s anchor as burn-pit-linked melanoma spread through his 33-year-old body. In this Memorial Day Moment, Navy-veteran and hospice chaplain Walt recounts the young soldier’s journey of courage, grace, and a faith found at the finish line.
May 20, 2025•13 min
When Zach Meerkreebs finished speaking at Asbury University’s chapel on February 8, 2023, he texted his wife, “That was a stinker.” He thought the message had flopped. But what happened next was anything but ordinary. Students stayed. More arrived. And over the next 16 days, more than 60,000 people from around the world came to Hughes Auditorium to experience what became known as the Asbury Outpouring. Marked by a profound spirit of humility, this movement reflected the very heart of Jesus. And ...
May 16, 2025•43 min
“We began to… say the Nicene Creed.” That decision changed everything for pastor and researcher Glenn Packiam, when a 2006 scandal rocked his Colorado Springs church. In this Unfolding Short Story, the Barna Group scholar and host of The Resilient Pastor podcast recounts how repeating the Creed each week knit a fractured congregation back together, and how its ancient words still steady believers facing today’s confusion and corruption. Want to dig deeper? Check out Glenn’s new book What’s a Chr...
May 13, 2025•12 min
She’s the voice behind the hit song Desperate —a powerful anthem that soared to number one and struck a chord with thousands. But Jamie MacDonald’s story runs much deeper. In this episode, Jamie shares about growing up in a house where singing was banned and hope felt out of reach. After being kicked out at 15 and dropping out of high school at 16, she spent years bouncing between couches and group homes—no phone, no address, no one in her corner. But even in the darkest moments, a flicker of fa...
May 09, 2025•35 min
David Sunde wrote a book called Homegrown Disciples: Parenting Rhythms for Drawing Your Kids into Life with God Hear David reflect on the book, and it’s development from a time of community that continues to this day. David learned that discipleship doesn’t begin in a sanctuary. It begins around tables, in relationships, and in everyday moments of faith. For David Sunde, a pastor and author, that truth came to life when his family was grafted in to a community of Burmese believers. What started ...
May 06, 2025•13 min
Guilt says you did something wrong. Shame says you *are* the thing that’s wrong. Russ Taff grew up believing he’d never be good enough. Raised by an alcoholic Pentecostal preacher and a co-dependent mother, his childhood was marked by abuse, secrets, and the suffocating weight of shame. But even in the darkest moments, music was his refuge. Russ’s extraordinary talent propelled him to the heights of Contemporary Christian Music. By 23, he was performing with The Imperials, later becoming a celeb...
May 02, 2025•53 min
Joseph Descans loved surfing. It was everything to him until a violent wave left him with a shattered leg and a long road to recovery. After surgery and a painful hospital journey, Joseph says God healed his knee and restored him to the waves he loved. But physical healing was just part of his story. Joseph also battled addiction to marijuana and alcohol, and he says God healed him there too. Over the years, Joseph says God has healed him at least sixteen times, including his heart and ankle. In...
Apr 29, 2025•8 min
“Shame is a prison,” Russ Taff says—and he lived in that prison for more than 40 years. To the world, Russ was a Gospel music legend: six GRAMMYs, 18 Dove Awards, and three Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductions. But behind the stage lights and accolades, he was hiding from pain, trapped in addiction, and silenced by the relentless voices of shame and self-hatred. In this deeply honest conversation, recorded around the dining table in his home in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, Russ shares the truth he ke...
Apr 25, 2025•48 min
"I left school angry on Friday. On Monday, people saw a light in me." Walter Hill was filled with grief and resentment after losing his mother and watching his father disappear into addiction. He had no interest in faith and no patience for empty answers. But God used one faithful friend and one unexpected night to break through the bitterness. This is a story of how deep anger was transformed into lasting joy. Walter Hill's book: Amazed Again: Reclaiming Christ’s Joy in a Fading World...
Apr 22, 2025•12 min
Content Warning – not appropriate for children. Bruce Van Natta’s childhood was filled with abuse and trauma, but he had one encounter with Jesus that marked him. He knew God was real. What he didn’t understand is why God didn’t rescue him. As he got older, he clearly heard God call him into ministry, but he was angry, skeptical, and cynical. As a diesel mechanic, Bruce regularly worked on big rigs. On a fateful day in 2006, he was lying under a logging truck that weighed 18,000 pounds. What hap...
Apr 18, 2025•59 min
Katie Leigh never studied acting, never planned for ministry, and never dreamed she’d be the voice behind one of Christian radio’s most beloved characters. But one day she prayed, “God, I’d like to do something for you.” This is the behind-the-scenes story of Connie Kendall... and the faithfulness of the God who sees it all.
Apr 15, 2025•14 min
For Natalie Layne , growing up in church didn’t automatically mean she knew Jesus personally. There came a moment—a quiet, desperate conversation with God—when she needed to know if He was real or walk away. That honest plea changed everything. In this episode of The Unfolding, Natalie shares the story of how that moment became the turning point in her faith journey—leading her to discover not just a real relationship with Jesus, but also her calling as a musician and worship leader. Now a soul-...
Apr 11, 2025•40 min
Speaking on strength in weakness, Karis Meier lives with Lyme Disease. “So I know my story isn't over and it's not the fairy tale ending that I would hope for. But, I can see how God is working, and I know his promises won't fail me and that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living because that is what He promises.”
Apr 08, 2025•10 min
At 37 weeks pregnant, Erin Beck was eagerly anticipating the arrival of her daughter, Ainsley. But in an unimaginable turn of events, Erin was confronted with the devastating loss of her baby girl. Overwhelmed by grief and bitterness, she found herself at a crossroads—would she serve God in her sorrow, or use her pain to make His love known? In this deeply moving episode of The Unfolding, Erin shares how she navigated the darkest days of her life, learning to hold both grief and joy in the same ...
Apr 04, 2025•34 min
Hear Dr. Pamela Pyle's full story on the latest episode of Wow God Stories. “It will be a good death.” These words were shared by a patient. This episode explores what Dr. Pamela Pyle calls the “ending journey.” As a hospital physician and the author of Anticipating Heaven , she’s witnessed a peace in dying that defies understanding. It began with a conversation by a patient’s bedside. It led to the writing of a book. But more than anything, it led her to see death not as a cold ending, but as a...
Apr 01, 2025•11 min
Megan Woods grew up in church but drifted away from faith during her teens. In high school, she experienced bullying, heartache, and a constant struggle with self-worth. It seemed she was never good enough. But in the lowest moment of her life, God began to show her the truth about who He is and His love for Megan. Out of that experience, Megan wrote a song called The Truth. Released in 2024, the song made Megan Woods the biggest debut artist in Contemporary Christian Music that year. It reached...
Mar 28, 2025•24 min
"Football was my god. It told me who I was, how good I was, and what I was going to do." Derwin Gray was a leader on the Indianapolis Colts. A hard-hitting defensive star with NFL money, a promising career, and a wife to share it all with. By every measure, he was a success. But inside, Derwin was still a boy without a role model, shaped by his father’s absence and striving to prove he was worth something. He thought building a strong resume was the answer. Then, in the most unexpected way, God ...
Mar 25, 2025•12 min
In 2022, Ben Fuller was a singer and songwriter just beginning his career in Christian music. His song “Who I Am” has been played on stations around the country. He grew up on a dairy farm in Vermont as a well-liked kid who seemed to have it all together. But he always struggled to earn his father’s approval. On the inside he felt an emptiness that left Ben searching for something to fill the hole. He tried relationships, alcohol, cocaine, even “making it” in country music. With each new thing, ...
Mar 21, 2025•47 min
"Jennifer, can you wait just a little while longer?" In a quiet valley in South Africa, Jennifer Sakata sought God's direction. She was waiting, as a single 33-year-old woman, to find love and become married. Jennifer’s surrender of her deepest longing to the Lord turned into one of the most intimate moments with God she’s ever experienced. Hear Jennifer and her husband talk about their marriage story on the "Behind Our Smiles Marriage Podcast"!...
Mar 18, 2025•9 min
